1,3-BDO is used for a wide variety of purposes, serving as a starter unit for the production of various compounds such as fragrances, pheromones, insecticides, penems and carbapenems. 1,3-BDO typically may be chemically produced by (1) hydrogenation of 4-hydroxy-2-butanone using ruthenium complexes of phosphine-aminophosphine and (2) from threonine by nitrous deamination in the presence of bromide ion followed by esterification and reduction. However, the methods typically are energy intensive, involve multiple steps, consume large amounts of solvent and/or produce large amounts of by-products, thus limiting large-scale production. In particular, these methods are not economical for the large-scale production of 1,3-butadiene via catalytic dehydration of 1,3-BDO. Accordingly, it is clear that there is a need for sustainable and efficient methods for producing 1,3-BDO.